Friday, 23 August 2013

Alice's Makan - Sydney - Sydney, Australia.

Alice’s Makan

Alice’s Makan’s original restaurant was located in Thornleigh before it closed down not too long ago and unfortunately I wasn't able to make it there on time. I’ve read many positive reviews on the restaurant and was disappointed I didn’t get to try out her Malaysian influenced cuisine before it shut down. Alice’s food is inspired from her beginnings in Klang, Malaysia.

Alice’s Makan has recently opened in the HSBC food court, taking over Lee’s Malaysian. I really like the colourful menu on the board and the pictures of food sure do look appealing. Apart from Malaysian dishes, Alice’s Makan, is also known for their signature handmade Kuih and you know how much I love my desserts so I had to get one to try.

The usual Malaysia favourites such as the char kway teow, har mee, nasi lemak, fried radish cake and the infamous Hainan chicken rice are available here.

The ‘Hainan Chicken Rice ($10.50)’ is one of the most popular dishes there and I chose to go with the leg part of the chicken. Poached chicken with ginger infused rice and drizzled with garlic and soy sauce. It looked great on the plate but was a disappointment for me. This may have been because I ordered it at the end of the day.

I really liked the chicken flavour of the rice and it wasn’t gluggy which I particularly enjoyed.

The boiled chicken was flavoursome but there was just something about the cooking technique that they use that doesn’t produce the real Hainan. The skin was still very fatty and thick. Good chicken rice usually has a very thin layer of skin and very minimal fat as it has been rendered in the cooking process. There was a lot of oil at the bottom of the chicken too and I’m not sure if this was from the chicken or the garlic oil. The soy sauce they used to dress the chicken was sweet soy and this went well with the chicken. One of the most critical components for me is the accompanying chill sauce. I found the sauce to be bland and it lacked that chilli kick. It may have been the addition of too much vinegar as it appeared to be diluted.

The soup was again very oily as well. They must have been a bit heavy handed with garlic oil as you could see a visible layer of oil on top of the soup. Good chicken flavour but the oil scared me off. Overall, I didn’t enjoy my chicken rice and the portion was small which left me feeling hungry afterwards.

I also got a Kuih to take away. Kuih are bite sized Malaysian sweets and savouries with varying colours and flavours. Selected Kuih is sold at the counter and the one they had on the day was ‘Bengka Ubi Kayu ($5.00)’ for a mini box of 4 which is a baked tapioca cake with a blend of coconut.

This was similar to a cassava cake and tasted like my mum’s version.

Exorbitantly priced considering how small it is. Nice and not overly sweet but I don’t think it’s worth the price. I’m a big fan of the ‘Talam’ and ‘Serimuku’ as they both contain pandan so I will still buy it regardless if they had. Can’t believe I only paid 80 cents in Kuala Lumpur!

I will return to try out their other menu items as I just can’t base my review on a single dish I had but won't go out of my way to eat here. The ‘Roti Canai and Chicken Curry ($10.00)’ is a special they have on at the moment with a free soft drink and perhaps that may be my next dish of choice.Where?580 George St Sydney NSW 2000 Australia

2 comments:

It's hard to not compare with prices in KL but then I guess you have to consider comparative wages in KL too, plus city rents are pretty exxy. Haven't been here since they closed their Thornleigh branch. Great that they're so accessible for a week day feed though!